"Auto detecting SATA1 IDE hard drive"
Then it goes a little further, where it normally puts info about the device,
and then shows "Primary Master hard disk failure Hit F1 to continue"
It gives this if other devices are plugged in or not.

I do not have ready access to another computer. (everyone is on laptop)

I am thinking I should send it back to Amazon, but now I don't know
which way to go for a new drive. I do not need a large drive, I am mainly
interested in quiet, but I would like to find a working solution for less than
$125.

"Auto detecting SATA1 IDE hard drive"
Then it goes a little further, where it normally puts info about the device,
and then shows "Primary Master hard disk failure Hit F1 to continue"
It gives this if other devices are plugged in or not.

I do not have ready access to another computer. (everyone is on laptop)

I am thinking I should send it back to Amazon, but now I don't know
which way to go for a new drive. I do not need a large drive, I am mainly
interested in quiet, but I would like to find a working solution for less than
$125.

Any suggestions would be welcome.
John

Click to expand...

If that same computer is able to detect other drives 1TB or larger on the same controller port, I'd say your EARS is bad and Amazon owes you a new one.

One other thing you might try is to get a USB to SATA cable. Allow the PC to boot up into Windows and then connect the drive to the USB to see if it gets properly recognized by WIndows. I always use UBB to SATA/IDE adapters when I do imaging. Also, you don't need to connect both the 160GB and the new drive at the same time unless you plan to do a direct copy. The only reason I can see to do it that way would be to preserve any recordings you might have. If you don't need to do a copy, either Unitron or I can provide you with a virgin image for the HD box.